Thus now he knelt before the ruins,
Cold of sweat, heat of flame
To vow the severed heads
Of those who brought the village, the village to its shame.
Those who plundered,pilfered, pillaged lives
Would now accept the blame.

He would find them all
With a mighty vengeance paid for in their pain

Shah-jan, the king of kings
Wore seven rings and 60 feathers
Plucked from sparrow's wings

Growing fat on the throne,
He sat like a stone.
A man who had never known
No hunger, shown no mercy with
In promises broke like a bone.

And there he sat like a stone,
With promises broke like a bone
Dispersed about the people
Rostam calls out for his equals

In third to rise and cast curse
Is that the worst of vengeance
Enemies they roam the tree's
Is that the worst of vengeance

The royalty must die x3
The royalty must die like common beggars and petty thieves x2

Tomorrow they will find us
Oh God x3
Heads of children will roll

Thus know he knelt before the ruins
Cold of sweat, heat of flame
He found the severed heads x2
Of those who brought the village, the village to its shame.

3:16
The king of kings wore
Seven rings and 60 feathers
Plucked from sparrows' wings.

He's growing fat, growing fat on the throne
Where he sat like a stone
A man who has never known no hunger
Shown no mercy

Those who ride against us
Will be murdered where they stand
Let our arrows rain from sky
To drain the blood into the land

If a mortal stands before us
Strike him down with sleight of hand
And if heaven rides against us the
God himself then must be damned.

22 Comments

General CommentShah-Jahan was the Mughal Emperor (the Mughal Empire was in India in the 1600s) who had the Taj Mahal built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. According to Wikipedia, there were rumors that he wanted a black Taj Mahal built in addition to the white one already built.

'It is believed that Shah Jahan cut the hand of the chief architect who built Taj Mahal thinking another such Taj Mahal will never be built again'...

'Although Shah-Jahan's father's (Jehangir) rule was generally peaceful, the empire was experiencing challenges by the end of his reign. Shah Jahan reversed this trend... [and his] military campaigns drained the imperial treasury. Under his rule, the state became a huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost fourfold, as did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry.'
-quoted from Wikipedia

in my opinion, Bone Marrow is about a rebellion by the common people against Shah-Jahan, who apparently "plundered, pilfered, pillaged" to gain monetary support for his military. His desire for riches and military might caused him to ignore and betray his own people. Shah-Jahan has never known what it feels like to be a common peasant, being born and raised in royalty, never experiencing true hunger. Claiming himself to be the "king of kings," Shah-Jahan has a general disregard for his people ("promises broke like a bone") because of a selfish desire for power, wealth and the expansion of his empire

Actually, it says that Shah Jahan was growing ill (growing fat on the throne) while his son led a rebellion and executed the other successor. He wore a plumed turban (sixty feathers) and according to this song a ton of rings. He attained power through violence and deceit and lost it in the same way (those who plundered, pilfered, pillaged lives would now accept the blame), and brought the kingdom to it's greatest point while simultaneously marking its downfall. It may refer to a radical change in religious belief (and if heaven rides against us God himself then must be damned) leaving behind a Hindu-Islam mix [Hindu being more pacifistic] for full blown Islam.

General CommentThus now he knelt before the ruins, cold of sweat and heat of flame, to vow the severed heads of those who brought the village to its shame. Those who plundered, pillaged, pilfered lives would now accept the blame. He would find them all with a mighty vengeance paid for in their pain. Shah-jan, the king of kings, wore seven rings and sixty feathers plucked from sparrow's wings. Growing fat on the throng where he sat like a stone as a man who has known no hunger or shown no mercy in promises broke like a bone. Dispersed about his people, rostam calls out for his equals in thirst to rise and cast curse, exact the worst revenge on his enemies to hang from trees. The royalty must die like common beggars and petty thieves. Those who rule against us will be murdered where they stand. Let our arrows rain from sky to drain the blood into the land. If a mortal stands before us, strike him down with sleight of hand. And if heaven rides against us, god himself then must be damned.